Sarpler, Sarplier or (in Scotland) Serplathe was a UK weight for wool.[1][2][3]
Definitions
editThe Oxford English Dictionary defines a sarpler as 80 tods, where a tod is usually 28lbs[1] thus usually 80 x 28 lbs, or 160 stone, = 2,240 pounds (1,020 kg)
Another definition, half the quantity, is given by Cowell's 1607 book (fourscore=80, 80 stone = 80 x 14lbs = 1,120 pounds (510 kg):[3]
Sarpler is a quantitie of woll. This in Scotland is called Serplathe, and conteineth fourscore stone ...
A different and apparently arithmetically confused definition is given in The Life and Works of Arthur Hall of Grantham, where he states:[2]
In a sarpler of wool is thre sacks, in everye sacke 26 stone at 14 pounde the stone, whiche makes 264 lbs., so as there is in a sarpler of wool 78 stone and 792 lbs.
The compendium Sizes Inc offers a range of inconsistent historic definitions, most of which agree that the term had gone out of use, but suggests that:[4]
In the late 19th century, the sarpler begins to be defined as a long ton (2240 pounds of wool). This value may also be an error, in this case arising from a mistaken substitution of the tod for the stone.
References
edit- ^ a b "Sarplier". Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
- ^ a b The Life and Works of Arthur Hall of Grantham. Manchester University Press. 1919. p. 221. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
sarpler.
- ^ a b Cowell, John (1607). The Interpreter, Or, Booke Containing the Signification of Words: Wherein is Set Forth the True Meaning of All, Or the Most Part of Such Words and Terms as are Mentioned in the Law-writers ... Laws, Statutes, Or Other Antiquities. The Lawbook Exchange. ISBN 9781584772651. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
- ^ "What is the unit called a sarpler?". www.sizes.com. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
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